Object Details
sova.eepa.2000-007_ref608
- Local Numbers
- O-113a/1951-1953 EEPA 2000-070100
- General
- Title source: Dr. Simon Ottenberg, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA.
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Collection Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Place
- Africa
- Nigeria
- Topic
- Cultural landscapes
- Vernacular architecture
- Shrines
- Photographer
- Ottenberg, Simon
- Culture
- Igbo (African people)
- See more items in
- Simon Ottenberg photographs
- Extent
- 1 Slide (col.)
- Date
- 1951-1953
- Custodial History
- Donated by Simon Ottenberg, 2000.
- Archival Repository
- Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art
- Identifier
- EEPA.2000-007, Item EEPA 2000-007-0100
- Type
- Archival materials
- Slides
- Color slides
- Collection Rights
- Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.
- Genre/Form
- Color slides
- Scope and Contents
- This photograph was taken by Dr. Simon Ottenberg while conducting field research at Afikpo village-group, southeastern Nigeria, from December 1951 to March 1953.
- Original title reads, "Omezi shrine, Ezi Akputa compound, Mgbom Village." [Ottenberg field research notes, O Series,December 1951-March 1953].
- "Religion plays an important role at Afikpo in almost every sphere of life. Everywhere there are shrines to humanlike and nonhuman supernatural forces. Often they are placed at the base of a tree, in a group of natural rocks or specifically constructed rock platforms, or in a shrine house, or are found at farms, along paths, in the commons of villages, in the compounds, sometimes even inside dwelling places. The shrines symbolize the diversity of beliefs, rituals, and history in the village group. The most important of the patrilineages' shrines other than the ancestral one is oma ezi (good-compound), also called aja ale ezi. It is a raised circular structure, lined on the outside with hard wood, located just inside the entrance gate of every Afikpo compound. It must exist before a residential area is considered organized as living quarters for a major patrilineage, and the lineage founder is usually believed to have established it. Its spirit, that of the earth (ale), both of the compound and the ground in general, protects the lineage against evil entering the compound and within it. It is of great importance because of its association with the earth." [Ottenberg S., 1968: Double Descent in an African Society; the Afikpo Village-Group. University of Washington Press].
- Collection Restrictions
- Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.
EEPA.2000-007_ref608
Large EAD
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/xo71790679a-ebce-4325-ab35-e1261cde061b
EEPA.2000-007
EEPA
- Record ID
- ebl-1536864686513-1536864686721-0